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Them's the Breaks

Posted by ESC on July 21, 2005

In Reply to: Them's the Breaks posted by ESC on July 21, 2005

: : : What does "Them's the Break" mean? I never understood that saying.

: : 'Them's the breaks' as I understand it, means something like 'that is the way it is'; 'that's the way the cookie crumbles'; 'that's life'. I assume it is of American origin and comes from the game of pool (if that game has 'breaks' in the way that snooker does) but I could be totally off-beam on this point.

: : DFG

: I agree with the above. That's the way it goes. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. I was thinking it came from this word: BREAK -- : a stroke of luck and especially of good luck. A bad break. Got the breaks. (Merriam-Webster). And I am guessing that probably comes from pool.

Adding one: That's the way the ball bounces.

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